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Americans, how would you feel about making student loans completely illegal? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

128 comments fedilink hide all child comments

This would save young Americans from going into crippling debt, but it would also make a university degree completely unaffordable for most. However, in the age of the Internet, that doesn't mean they couldn't get an education.

Consider the long term impact of this. There are a lot of different ways such a situation could go, for better and for worse.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

You're talking about changes that will take a generation or more to settle. While these things are in flux, professors will lose their jobs, research grants and budgets will be gutted, and educational assets will be liquidized (imagine museums being sold off to private collections - this is incredibly damaging to the collective knowledge base). Meanwhile, the generations that wait for prices to come down will be left having to educate themselves on the internet, which not everyone has the motivational drive to do or the ability to spot which sources are providing reliable, accurate material they can learn from.

I get that something's gotta give, but banning loans altogether ain't it unless your entire goal is to turn Gen A's moniker into Ass-Backwards.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yes, I acknowledge that this would be a shock to society in the short term. But do we really want to maintain the current status quo?

When I wrote Internet, I don't necessarily mean people will have to teach everything to themselves. I mean services like online classes which offer similar curriculums to a university course.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But do we really want to maintain the current status quo?

I think if you read my comment again, you'd find I acknowledge things need to change, I just think your proposed solution is bad.

I can imagine ways to accomplish these goals more gradually, with less complete and utter destruction, but I don't think someone who proposed something so extreme from the word go really wants to discuss the moderate stance, so I'll leave it with you as a thought exercise.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

I agree with you that we could do this gradually. I'm just creating a what-if scenario in this thread.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Old people lose good jobs...

I am sure all the young people who never had a good job will suffer from this

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You snark, but unironically yes? Obviously?

If you think the professors that will be left will be the highest quality instead of the longest tenured, you're being willfully ignorant. And that loss will ripple down through every generation those passionate and skilled educators would have taught. Plus, "the olds" or whatever have families (which include young people) that would be suffering even more directly to boot.

E: I see we're doing the whole "disregard the overall point and only snark about the lowest hanging fruit you can intentionally take out of context" thing. Into the void with you, redditor.